The Denton school board has approved an offer to release Superintendent Ray Braswell from his contract. The action is in consideration of the superintendent releasing the district of its contractual obligations.
The unanimous vote, 7-0, was taken at a board meeting Tuesday, following a closed session discussion.
The board also unanimously moved to name Jamie Wilson, the district's deputy superintendent, the sole finalist being considered to succeed Braswell. By law, the board is required to give notice of finalists considered for the superintendent job at least 21 days before voting to officially hire a new superintendent.
Board President Mia Price and Braswell would not disclose any further details on the board's decisions.
Braswell has served as Denton superintendent since 1999. In 2009, the Texas Association of School Boards named him one of five finalists for the state Superintendent of the Year award. Braswell has worked for the school district since 1979, and throughout his career in Denton he's served as interim and associate superintendent, executive director of policy, planning and evaluation, executive director of research and development, director of secondary education and as associate and assistant principal at Denton High School.

This story is developing. More details to come.

Spending is all over the place in Argyle, but it's important to note that one candidate, Peggy Krueger, has accepted $400 in anonymous donations.

Bj Lewis is calling for her comment, since putting an anonymous donation on campaign finance forms does not appear to follow either the spirit or the intent of the disclosure laws. Perhaps in tomorrow's story we'll be able to tell you who those shy Argyle donors are.

In Place 1, Joey Hasty appears to be sticking to his pledge not to raise or spend more than $500, as is Dona Schroetke in Place 5 (currently occupying Place 3).

Place 1 - SimmonsCampFin1.pdf SimmonsCampFin2.pdf
Place 3 - DelashawCampFin1.pdf DelashawCampFin2.pdf ThomasCampFin2.pdf
Place 5 - KruegerCampFin1.pdf KruegerCampFin2.pdf ThurstonCampFin1.pdf ThurstonCampFin2.pdf

All the candidates have pledged not to raise or spend more than $500, save Mark Foster. Here is his report showing several contributions of $100 or more. FosterCampFin1.pdf

Both Bill Knox and Mike McCaleb filed campaign finance reports. McCaleb appears to have spent early on, and Knox during this last period.

Attached are all the reports filed with the Lake Dallas city secretary's office.
KnoxCampFin2.pdf McCalebCampFin1.pdf

In the city's only contested race, Place 4, incumbent Joe Harrison got a big bump with a $1,000 contribution from TREPAC, the political action committee of the Texas Association of Realtors, during the second reporting period.

Here are reports from the first and second filing periods for both candidates. Harrison's opponent, Sim Portnoy, did not file a second report. HarrisonCampFin1.pdf HarrisonCampFin2.pdf PortnoyCampFin1.pdf

Candidates who raised or spent more than $500 for the May 12 election were required to submit another campaign finance report at the end of the day Friday.

The reports cover dollars raised and spent between the last deadline (April 12) and May 2.

Any last minute spending won't be reported until the final deadline (July 15), but you can look at "donations maintained" to see what that future spending might look like.

We'll be reading and analyzing all the reports today for a story tomorrow, but for those of you who want to do your own work, here are the reports for the city of Denton candidates. (Note: Larry Frederick, who is running in Place 5, signed a modified reporting form at the beginning of the campaign season, pledging to neither raise nor spend more than $500.)

More reports to come. Mayor -
BurroughsCampFin2.pdf DurranceCampFin2.pdf WoodforkCampFin2.pdf Place 3 - KingCampFin2.pdf SuttonCampFin2.pdf Place 5 - KampCampFin2.pdf ZoltnerCampFin2.pdf

A new person will soon be named to the Place 6 seat on the Pilot Point school board. Candidates Dana Braack and Bill Falzett are on the ballot running for a seat current board member Matthew Harmuth intends to step down from this month after serving one term.
Place 5 and Place 7 board members Steven Klohn and Dan Flagg are running uncontested.

Here's a look at the candidates running for Place 6.

DANA BRAACK
Age: 49
Born in: Denton
Education: MBA, finance, University of North Texas, 1992 and bachelor's degree, animal science, Texas A&M University, 1985
Experience: homemaker; adjunct instructor, business management, North Central Texas College (Aug. 2005- May 2011); customer service representative, Star Pipe Products, Houston (Sept. 2001- May 2010), remote location employee (2002-2010); client services representative, CMAI, Houston (Aug. 1998- Sept. 2001); office manager, Cain Center, Athens (Aug. 1996- Feb. 1998) and credit clerk, General Motors Acceptance Corp. Dallas/Tyler ( Dec. 1993-July 1995)
Why are you running for school board?: "I feel very strongly about making sure we provide a good education for our kids ... so that they have a good opportunity."
What do you see as the most pressing issues facing the district?: Teacher pay and retention and anticipated student growth. She said the district in the next few years will see some changes in student enrollment numbers and have to be prepared for that future growth.
What do you feel makes you the best person for the job?: "I'm just very passionate about making sure we do the right thing, spend our money wisely and provide the right programs for our children so that when they leave our schools, they're ready for college or the workforce."

BILL FALZETT
Age: 50
Born in: El Paso
Education: bachelor's degree, biology, University of Texas-Arlington and studied information technology at Southern Methodist University
Experience: Employed in the information technology field 15 years with Abbott Laboratories, and the last two years with Hewlett Packard. Prior to that he operated small businesses, and served as a mental health technician for Harris Methodist Hospital Hurst-Euless-Bedford, adolescent psychiatric unit.
Why are you running for school board?: "My intention as a candidate for the school board is simply to volunteer my time to work with the other good people on the board, to contribute to this important community function."
About Falzett: I have lived in the Pilot Point area since 2005, where I have served on the Butterfield Junction Homeowners Association, and the building and architectural control committee. I currently serve on the board of directors of the Mustang Special Utility District.

In Sanger, two candidates are running for the Place 2 spot, a seat current board president, Lynn Stucky said he will step down from at the end of his term this month after serving 15 years on the board.
Place 3 incumbent Russel CeBallos drew no challengers.

Here's a look at the Place 2 candidates.

SHANNON LINK
Age: 44
Born in: Bryan
Education: Bachelor's degree, physical therapy, Southwest Texas State University, San Marcos, 1996 and bachelor's degree in community health education, Texas A&M University, 1991
Experience: Vice president, S &J Pharmacy, 2001-present; stay-at-home mom, 1997-present; Huguley Hospital 1997-1998

UPDATE, 6:31 p.m. Thursday, May 10

Why are you running for school board?: " I am running for school board because the children in the district need people on the board who care about their education. I am interested in improving education at every grade level in the district."
What do you see as the most pressing issues facing the district?: "I feel the most pressing issue facing the school board is the financing. With so many cuts in the budget coming from the Texas legislation, I do not want to see education in Sanger decline but continue it's upward trend."
What do you feel makes you the best person for the job?: "I feel I am the best candidate for the position because I have volunteered in the school district for the last seven years and have logged over 3,500 hours of service. I have served as president of the Parent Teacher Organization for three years. I have been room mom and campus coordinator at three different campuses in the district. I have already established many relationships in the district with school administrators and teachers. I am a founding member of the Sanger Education Foundation."

KEVIN POLK
Age: 44
Experience: physician assistant
Polk did not respond to messages for comment.

Early voting continues through Tuesday. The election is May 12. Those elected to school board will serve three-year terms.

Related:
Denton school board race
Argyle school board race

I prepared an "In Other Action" box for today's paper, which did not run with the main story on a rezoning case because of space considerations. Here it is.

During its regular meeting Tuesday, the Denton City Council also:

• Heard proclamations in support of the National Day of Prayer, Motorcycle Safety and Awareness Month, Drinking Water Week and National Nurses Week (tweeted photos from all these at @phwolfeDRC)




• Authorized the purchase of four easements needed to make public improvements along S. Bonnie Brae, totaling $581,569




• Authorized $250,000 in legal fees to Constagny, Brooks & Smith for Jones v. city of Denton (Terry Jones is a former employee of Denton Municipal Electric who is suing over his termination.)




• Agreed to discuss at a future meeting the naming of the Loop 288 pedestrian bridge in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.

Back at the Mayborn School of Journalism, Dick Wells, a former Star-Telegram editor and public relations man for the U.S. Navy and its recruiters, coached how to keep from having holes in our stories.

One big question to get answered was "what's the history?"

Apparently, someone forgot to check the history of Al Armendariz's trip to Dish and whether anyone had reported that night.

We did.

Last night, I spent some time on Twitter with Forrest Wilder, environmental reporter of the Texas Observer, and a political ally of Gov. Perry. Forrest tweeted an exchange we had about re-writing history.

Unlike many other situations where I have heard gasps or watched eyeballs roll, or had someone come up after a public meeting to talk to me, no offense was taken that night. People of Dish were pretty beaten down. Armendariz was responding to them on a personal level.

I'll be the first to admit that journalism is wickedly difficult. You get tips from people with questionable intentions. You have to work hard to get at the story. It's easy to step in stuff on the way. But I respect our readers way too much to allow journalists who've never been here to re-write our history.

Claim it, people of Dish and Denton County. This is your story.

Denton Record-Chronicle (TX)

Federal oversight promised for shale EPA's regional head visits Dish council meeting

Date: Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Section: News
Page: 1a
Dateline: DISH
By Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe Staff Writer PEGGY HEINKEL-WOLFE can be reached at 940-566-6881. Her e-mail address is pheinkel-wolfe@dentonrc.com.

DISH - With oil and gas extraction now a national enforcement priority, some energy companies in the Barnett Shale could soon face stiff penalties for operating outside federal rules, said Dr. Al Armendariz, Region 6 director of the Environmental Protec tion Agency.Armendariz visited with Denton, Wise and Tarrant County residents at the beginning of the Dish Town Council's regular meeting Monday night. He and other federal environmental officials are on a two-day tour of the area - planned before the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster - to look at trouble spots in the Barnett Shale.
It was his second time to be at a public meeting in Dish, although the first time, last summer, Armendariz was still a professor at Southern Methodist University, sitting in the back of the council chambers as Dish residents put state environmental officials on the spot.
Armendariz shared details about changes at the EPA that residents could expect in the months ahead, but residents continued to bring a local perspective to the problem.
Resident Jim Caplinger said he was concerned that federal officials would be hamstrung by the same political forces that have made it difficult for state officials to enforce environmental rules.
Armendariz told him that, as far as he could see, no such pressure exists at the agency now.
"Our enforcement initiative doesn't depend on any state," Armendariz said. "We have the clearance to do what our mission is. We don't expect any political interference on me or any others."
Council member William Sciscoe asked what it would take for the agency to shut down industry operations.
"We need some real responsibility, but we're not getting it," Sciscoe said. "We're powerless to protect the health, safety and welfare of our citizens. These people are un touchable."
Armendariz told him that it was difficult to do something immediate with toxins in the air, "unless people are going to the emergency room by the dozens," he said, adding that was the way that Congress had limited the agency's powers.
"However, people should be drinking clean water, and that's something that we can take immediate action [on], and we can address really quickly," Armendarizsaid.
Resident Amber Smith agreed to let Armendariz take a water sample she collected that residents had been passing around the room.
The family's water well, which had been reliable for seven years, went bad in the past two weeks, she said.
Resident John Harris stood up to say that he'd never been at a meeting before, but he came to speak to Armendariz about his son.
His 11-year-old recently had to have a baby tooth removed, and there was no adult tooth behind it.
"Our dentist said that a group of dentists are seeing this too much in our community - and it's way out of whack compared to the national average," Harris said.
Armendariz encouraged Harris to e-mail him with details, pledging to have the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry look into the local rate of the developmental abnormality.
Armendariz told the crowd that he didn't have a "way of life act" that he could use for en forcement, even though in his travels, he could see radical changes in the community. But the agency was revisiting hy draulic fracturing, and new rules for both that process and for air toxins would be coming in a year or two.
Cherelle Blazer, of the En vironmental Defense Fund, re commended that the EPA look into exceptions to the industry's exemption to the Clean Air Act.
The industry's claim that it cannot quantify emissions is now obsolete, Blazer said, making the exemption immaterial in urban, nonattainment areas where it contributes to health risks.
"Maybe closing that loophole can be a stop-gap measure, until the new rules are in place," Blazer said.
Armendariz told the crowd that he met recently with representatives from oil and gas producers and told them the agency expected them to deliver a plan within the next 30 days on how they would report all their emissions.
In an interview after the meeting, he said federal officials considered the Western Regional Air Partnership's study of oil and gas emissions in the 14 westernmost states to be a model.
"Producers in Texas, Okla homa, Arkansas and Louisiana need to take a similar regional look," Armendariz said.

The American Lung Association released its annual report on the State of the Air. No surprise, Denton County received a failing grade, putting all county residents among the 4 in 10 Americans who live in a region with unhealthy air.

The grade comes from Denton County's ozone levels, which were among the worst in the state last year. No regulatory entity tracks pollution from particulate, an emerging concern among researchers -- suspected to cause both asthma and heart attacks.

Among the key findings, the group noted that air quality has improved in many parts of the country. However, the Dallas-Fort Worth has not. Locally, clean air advocates have detailed the region's "perfect storm" here.

Join us at 6:30 p.m. for the Denton Mayoral Candidate Forum hosted by the Denton Record-Chronicle, North Texas Daily and the Mayborn School of Journalism.

Got questions for Denton's mayoral candidates? Submit them at www.twitter.com/dentonrc using the tag #dentonmayor. Your question could be asked at tonight's event to be held at Milestone Celebrations, 108 W. Congress St.

Thomas La Point and Vicki Oppenheim released this morning a minority report for the Denton City Council following their service on the city's gas well task force.

The report outlines several problem areas that the task force didn't tackle, including air and water quality issues, noise pollution, infrastructure planning and public notification.

Notably, the pair encourages the city council to think about the industry as it ages.

Also, the shortest recommendation appears to be the most damning -- they write that the task force was too small, did not represent Denton residents, did not fully vet residents' concerns, did not go on field trips, and did not hear presentations from either conservation groups or industry representatives.

In short, resident concerns were a minority issue. Minority Report, Gas Well Task Force (1).pdf

An emergency room physician is part of a resident group that paid for air quality testing during flowback operations in Colleyville.

Earthworks released information today which showed carbon disulfide above state guidelines for short-term exposure and several carcinogens above state guidelines for long-term exposure.

Candidates in the May 12 election for Denton mayor and City Council recently filed campaign finance reports and personal financial statements.

You can read them by clicking on the links below. Our story on the campaign finance reports is here.

Denton mayor

City Council Place 5

City Council Place 6

We've got a story coming this weekend about a push by Lake Dallas residents for better odor control at the regional sewer plant there.

Some steps have already been taken. And the City Council will be considering a resolution at the Thursday council meeting. I secured a copy of the resolution today. Resolution 042612.59.doc

We reported Robert Jackson as a candidate for the Lake Dallas City Council since he filed an application to be on the ballot again this year. He did so after filing to run against Cecil Carter on the Lake Cities Municipal Utility Authority board of directors, too.

According to Lake Dallas secretary Joni Vaughn, that technically made his application for the Lake Dallas ballot invalid but the city did not discover that until after the date Jackson could formally withdraw.

"However he did put in writing that it was his desire not to run for a place on our City Council," Vaughn wrote me in an email this afternoon. "After consulting with the Denton County Election Administrator, several attorneys from the Secretary of State's office, the Attorney General's office and our City Attorney, it was finally decided that Mr. Jackson could be pulled off our ballot."

April Estrada is now running unopposed for the seat.

The Friends of the Lake Cities Library are sponsoring a series of local candidate forums beginning Tuesday for municipal races in Corinth, Lake Dallas and Shady Shores, and the Lake Cities Municipal Utility Authority board of directors.
The forum schedule is as follows, with (I) denoting the incumbent:
Tuesday - Cecil Carter (I) and Robert Jackson, LCMUA
Wednesday - Joe Harrison (I) and Sim Portnoy, Corinth City Council
Tues., April 24 - William Knox and Mike McCaleb, Lake Dallas City Council
Wed., April 25 - Cindy Aughinbaugh (I) and Bill Krueger, Shady Shores Town Council
Tues., May 1 - Norma Baker (I) and Jim Kloberdantz, LCMUA
Wed., May 2 - Charles Grimes (I) and Judith Halaszyn, Shady Shores Town Council
Candidates in Hickory Creek and the Lake Dallas ISD did not draw opponents, leading both entities to cancel their elections this spring. Early voting begins April 30. The election is May 12.
Forums will begin at 6 p.m. and end at 8 p.m. The Lake Cities Library is located at 302 South Shady Shores Road, in Lake Dallas.
For more information, contact the library at (940) 497-3566.

Oak Point's Community Garage Sale is from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, rain or shine (probably some rain, according to meteorologists). On the morning of the event, a map with a list of registered garage sale sites will be available at each subdivision entrance. Click here for garage sale maps.

Family, friends, current and former co-workers came together Thursday to celebrate and support one of their own, Brian Massegee.
A spaghetti dinner, silent auction and other events were hosted for Massegee, the Denton High School dean of instruction, with proceeds going to help defray his medical costs. He was diagnosed in February 2011, and learned in January 2012 that his cancer had spread and was terminal. Doctors, he said, have given him less than a year to live and the last several weeks he's been unable to work.
Massegee said he was blown away by Thursday's festivities.
"I've seen a lot of teachers retire and things like that over the years, and I've never seen anything like this done for anybody," he said.
For three years, Massegee has served as the Denton High dean of instruction. Prior to working in Denton, Massegee was a teacher and instructional specialist with the Mansfield school district, an English teacher and lead Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills instructor with the Irving school district and a high school coach and teacher with the Bay City school district.
He said his years as a classroom teacher were the happiest years of his life by far.
"Being a classroom teacher was the best thing I ever did," Massegee said. "Watching kids grow and learn right in front of your eyes, there's nothing better than that.
"Watching kids that weren't supposed to succeed, succeed, that's the biggest payoff I ever got."
To see so many of his colleagues, family and friends come together to show their support, he said signals that he must have done something right as an educator.
"I always thought I did but this confirms it, and makes me feel good that my efforts over the years as an educator have affected this many people," Massegee said.

Check out video footage from Thursday's dinner and auction below.

The National Weather Service confirmed the 15th tornado -- so far -- in Tuesday's storm. This one was a weak, short-lived funnel that spun through a wheat field just south of Ryan Elementary.

The storm team confirmed the tornado with photos, radar and information from storm spotters, in addition to a site visit today. Here is a map of the path through the field.